Hantavirus treatment: Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship: Symptoms, treatment, infections in north America

Health officials were working Monday to evacuate two people showing symptoms of the deadly hantavirus after a suspected outbreak aboard a luxury cruise ship carrying mostly British, American and Spanish passengers off the coast of West Africa, officials said. Officials added that about 150 people were still trapped on the ship after three people, a Dutch couple and a German national, died and others fell ill, including a Briton who left the ship and was treated in South Africa. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), which is helping with the outbreak, said hantavirus was confirmed in one of the patients showing symptoms.

A source with knowledge of the matter said that the deceased Dutch woman also tested positive for the virus. The RIVM said it was still unclear whether other people with symptoms also had the virus or whether the other deaths were also caused by the virus.

Hantavirus Symptoms, Treatment

Hantavirus, which can cause fatal respiratory diseases, can spread when particles from rodent feces or urine become airborne. It is not easily transmitted between people.
Because there is no specific medication to treat the disease, treatment focuses on supportive care, including putting patients on ventilators in severe cases.
The World Health Organization has said the risk to the general public is low and there is no need for panic or travel restrictions. However, authorities in the island nation of Cape Verde said that they did not allow the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius to dock as a precaution.
The World Health Organization said in a statement that it had detected seven cases of hantavirus on the luxury cruise ship, including two laboratory-confirmed cases and five suspected cases.

Hantavirus usually begins with flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue and fever, one to eight weeks after exposure. Hantavirus is primarily spread by rodents, but in rare cases it can also be transmitted between humans, according to the World Health Organization.

People usually become infected when the virus in rodent feces, saliva, and urine becomes airborne, such as by vacuuming areas where rats and mice nest.

According to the medical journal The Lancet, the name comes from the Hantan River region of South Korea, where the virus was identified in the 1970s.

Hantavirus is a family of viruses that cause two diseases; One primarily affects the lungs, the other attacks the kidneys. The first one attracts the most attention because the mortality rate is around 40 percent. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a respiratory disease, is most commonly found in North and South America.

Hantavirus usually begins with flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue and fever, one to eight weeks after exposure, according to the CDC. After four to 10 days, cough, shortness of breath, and fluid accumulation in the lungs occur. The CDC says diagnosis is difficult in the first 72 hours of infection, so symptoms can easily be confused with the flu.

Experts say exposure to hantavirus can be minimized by discouraging and eliminating rodents from areas where people are present. Avoid sweeping or vacuuming dried feces, which can aerosolize the virus.